Day at the Beach
by Eyrmia
Summary: "Bulkhead will grab the doc's feet and slowly drag him off the chair. Once only his upper back is still on it, Wheeljack will come in and grab his shoulders. They'll carefully drag him over to the shore, where Arcee will be waiting to help swing him into the water. I'll stand where I want you to throw him. Any questions?" Arcee/Ratchet if you squint.


"Yah- _hoo_!" Miko howled, belly flopping into the salty water. Jack was soon to follow, except he did a cannonball.

 _\- C'mon, Raf, -_ Bumblebee beeped, his holomatter avatar grabbing the boy's hand. _\- It's not_ that _cold. -_

The boy shook his head, pulling away looking fearfully at the water. "It's…not that, 'Bee."

"You can't _swim_?" Miko asked incredulously, earning herself a faceful of water from Jack.

"Well, I never really had a reason to learn, and Mama and Papa never had time to sign me up for lessons anyway," he muttered, twiddling his thumbs in shame.

"Aw, come on," Smokescreen said cheerfully, his own avatar walking up behind the boy. "I'm sure 'Bee can help you, right?" Bumblebee nodded enthusiastically, putting his hand on Raf's shoulder.

 _\- I'll be right there if you need me. I promise. -_

Miko turned away from the pair and waved to Wheeljack's and Bulkhead's holomatter avatars (or soliforms, as she had taken to calling them). The former wasn't usually at the base with them, instead opting to be a "lone wolf," but Bulkhead had somehow convinced him to go with them on their trip to the beach.

"Hey, guys!" she called, still waving her arms. They looked up at her. "Get in the water!"

Bulkhead adopted an uncertain look, while Wheeljack grinned.

"Alright, kid," he said, then got to his feet and began running towards the water. At the last second he dove forward, landing about twenty feet away from the shore.

"New record!" Miko shouted, pumping her fists as the Wrecker came up, spluttering.

"I forgot how realistic these are," he growled, smacking the right side of his head with his palm. "I swear, Sunshine put _everything_ in these things. Pain sensors, taste, lungs…ugh."

"They're more realistic that way!" the medic's soliform yelled from his lounge chair. "Just be thankful I didn't add waste products into the mix. And don't call me 'Sunshine'!"

"What are–"

"You don't wanna know," Miko said, cutting Wheeljack off. She then turned to Ratchet and Arcee. "You guys should join us!" she shouted, flinching as Bulkhead cannonballed into the water beside her. Ratchet frowned and rolled his eyes, but Arcee's soliform slid off her lounge chair and stretched. She walked up to the tide and waded in, soon arriving at Miko's side.

"Killjoy," Wheeljack muttered, seeing as how she hadn't jumped in like the others, and the femme splashed him. The Wrecker roared and spat out the salty liquid, face wrinkling in disgust.

I've got an idea," Miko said, gesturing for the three bots to draw closer to her. "We need to get Doc-bot in the water," she continued. "I say we grab him by the feet and throw him in!"

"He's gonna kill us," Bulkhead said anxiously, biting his lip.

"C'mon, Bulk!" his charge retorted. "Wreck 'n' rule, right? So, who's in?" she asked, putting her fist in the middle of them. Wheeljack grinned and put his fist in too, and Arcee followed soon after, rolling her eyes in amusement. Bulkhead frowned uncomfortably, but finally relented and put his hand in as well.

"So _how_ exactly are we going to do this?" Arcee asked. "You do know that he could just deactivate his avatar, right?"

"Then we get him while he's in recharge," Wheeljack answered, pointing his thumb behind him, where the doctor was slumped over in his chair. "Like right now."

Miko giggled and clapped her hands together. This was going to be perfect! "Alright," she said, taking charge, "Bulkhead will grab the doc's feet and _slowly_ drag him off the chair. Once only his upper back is still on it, Wheeljack will come in and grab his shoulders. They'll carefully drag him over to the shore, where Arcee will be waiting to help swing him into the water. I'll stand where I want you to throw him. Any questions?" she asked brightly, and Bulkhead raised his hand sheepishly.

"Uh, what if he wakes up?"

"Bulkhead," Miko said darkly, putting her hand on her partner's shoulder. "Run. Like. _Hell_."

"You're good as dead anyway," Wheeljack added, elbowing his friend, and Bulkhead swallowed nervously.

"O-Okay," he stuttered.

"Alright. Any _more_ questions?" Miko asked, and they shook their heads. "Good! Now, get to your positions!"

Ten minutes of scrambling later, Bulkhead was standing in front of Ratchet's feet, with Wheeljack to the right of the lounge chair.

"Ready, Bulk?"

"As I'll ever be." Bulkhead then grabbed the doctor's feet and carefully began to slide him off the chair. There was a loud squeaking sound as he began to slip off though, and the Wrecker shrieked and danced away, trembling.

"It's just his avatar's skin on the chair, Bulk," Wheeljack said flatly. "Hurry up."

Bulkhead nodded shakily, then tried again. This time, he ignored the sound, and managed to get the medic all the way off the chair. Unfortunately, he did it too fast, and Wheeljack was unable to grab his shoulders before Ratchet's head hit the ground with a thunk.

Both Wreckers froze, eyes wide, but nothing happened. Wheeljack carefully leaned down and picked up their victim's shoulders, and they cautiously maneuvered him to the shore. Once they were there, Bulkhead realized that all the Autobots were watching them, some trying to stifle chuckles, while others were biting their lips nervously.

Arcee walked up to them and hooked her arms beneath Ratchet's back, then nodded to Wheeljack. He glanced up at Miko, who gave him a thumbs up.

"1…2…3!"

They flung the good doctor into the water, right behind Miko. She doubled over, shielding her head as the wave crashed over her. Ratchet came to the surface, gasping and floundering, before he finally managed to calm down and turn his icy gaze on the culprits.

"Miko!" Bulkhead shouted. "Swim! _Now_!" She did as she was told, zipping away from the medic, who wasn't really at his most graceful in the water.

When Ratchet finally got to the shore, he _tried_ to get a hold of Wheeljack, Bulkhead, Arcee, and possibly even Miko, but he was much too tired, and ended up collapsing on his lounge chair. Eventually the excitement died down, everything was back to normal. Arcee went back to her own lounge chair beside Ratchet's, ignoring his glare, while the rest of the team played Marco Polo in the water.

"You should get out more," Arcee suddenly said, turning to face the medic. He frowned at her.

"Why?"

"Because I know that when we threw you in the water, most of that anger was a facade," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I saw that quiet laugh you did once you sat back down."

Ratchet's face immediately flushed, and he turned away. "Did not."

"Did too. Are we sparklings now?" the femme teased, grabbing a handful of sand and throwing it at the medic. He rolled back over, eyes glinting with mischief as he grabbed his own pile of sand and thrust it at her belly. Soon enough, they had both stood up and were running around the beach, chucking bits of sand at each other. Eventually, one of these piles hit Optimus in the face, and it became an all-out war.

When they returned to the base, it was decided that yes, Team Prime needed more vacations.

"Next vacation spot: Alaska!" Miko said excitedly, turning to Optimus. "You never did bring Raf back that snowball."


End file.
